Do you have a lot of floppy disks laying around? Is the data on these disks unknown to you? Are you afraid of throwing them away? Here are a few steps you can take to securely destroy your disks, depending on the level of destruction you would like.

Steps

1

Obtain a powerful magnet, such as a neodymium magnet, and rub the magnet all over both sides of your floppy disk. This will change all those 1's and 0's, making the data on the disk unusable.

2

Rip open the floppy disk and cut it up with a pair of scissors. The smaller and more numerous the pieces, the better, as the pieces can be taped back together. Also don't cut a neat design; random cuts will work best.

3

Pull the disk apart, rip out the metal center and put the magnetic tape into a cross-cut shredder.

4

Burn them. This has been the U.S. Government way of destroying classified material for many years. Make sure you do it safely, such as a fireplace, or a solid metal trash bin outside in a clear area. Make sure there is no wind if you do this outside, as you do not want the flames to fly away and start a forest fire.